Telipinu (deity)
Telipinu (also Telipuna ; hatt . Talipinu ) is a vegetation god of the Hittites , whom they took over from the Hatti .
In Hattic myth he is the son of Taru and the sun goddess of Arinna . As the son of the weather god, he can also bring about thunder, lightning and rain that irrigate the fields and allow the grain to flourish. Its symbol is the oak and its cult city Tawiniya .
Companions
Depending on the place of worship Telipinu are assigned different companions. In Kašḫa, Ḫanḫana and Zalpa he is considered the husband of Ḫatepinu (also Ḫatepuna or Ḫalipinu), the daughter of the sea . In Kašḫa and Ḫanḫana he is also connected to the Hattic goddess Kataḫḫa . and in Nerik the goddess Tešimi . On the other hand, the latter is also associated with the weather god of Nerik . In Zippalanda he was worshiped together with Šepuru .
In Southeast Anatolia he was worshiped together with Maliya . She is a goddess of gardens and is associated with growth, especially of wine and grain.
Myths
The myth of Telipinus disappearing is handed down in Hittite ritual texts. Then Telipinu withdraws from anger and disappears, as a result of which fire, altars and animals are paralyzed and sterility covers the land. The sun goddess gathers the gods and sends the eagle out to find Telipinu. After an unsuccessful search, Telipinus father goes to the mother goddess Ḫannaḫanna . Thereupon the text of the myth is interrupted and appeasement victims to Telipinu are described with some unclear episodes of gods. The myth continues when the mother goddess sends out a bee, which Telipinu finds in a grove near the cult city Liḫzina . The bee stings Telipinu, who then becomes even more angry, but then lets the bee calm him down and returns.
A second myth, which has been handed down in fragments, reports how Telipinu kidnaps the Ḫatepinu, the daughter of the sea god. Enraged, he makes the sun goddess disappear. After fruitless negotiations by the weather god, the mother goddess advises that the sea god should be paid a generous bride price. There is reconciliation and the sun goddess returns.
literature
- Einar von Schuler : Asia Minor. The mythology of the Hittites and Hurrites. In: Gods and Myths in the Middle East. Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart approx. 1965.
- Gerhard J. Bellinger : Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie. Droemer Knaur Verlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-8289-4155-9 .
- Volkert Haas , Heidemarie Koch : Religions of the ancient Orient: Hittites and Iran . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-51695-9 .
- Piotr Taracha : Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia . Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-05885-8 .
Web links
- Daniel Schwemer: Telipinu. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Biblical Lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.